New Beginnings
by ghibligirl92
Summary: A continuation of the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday, set three years after the movie's end. Taeko and Toshio are now married, and they have just welcomed the newest member of their family into the world.


Hello, readers! _Only Yesterday_ is my absolute favorite film, and I wanted to share my little story with an audience. This is not my first fanfic, but it is the first thing I have uploaded to this site. Please be gentle! :)

_July 26, 1985_

The day after she was discharged from the hospital, Taeko sat in the living room, rocking her newborn in her arms. They had spent a pleasant morning together, nursing and sleeping. The baby seemed to be adjusting well to her new surroundings. She had had a meltdown on the way home from the hospital, fighting the restraints of her car seat, and her sleep schedule had been off the night before, but the morning had been calm.

Taeko nuzzled the top of her daughter's head, inhaling that wonderful baby smell, and gazed at her adoringly. "Can you believe our girl is almost a week old already?" she asked her husband.

"And she still doesn't have a name." Her mother, visiting from Tokyo to help with the baby, wandered into the room.

Taeko sighed. "Mom, please. Not this again."

"Well, think about it! The poor child can't go through life with no name."

"She's only six days old, Mom."

Her mother sniffed. "_Only?_ I had a list of potential boy and girl names months in advance. When you were born, I had narrowed down the 'girl' list by the next day."

Taeko opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Toshio. "You know, she has a point. We can't just call her 'baby' forever."

"Not you too," Taeko groaned.

"Hey, just offering my opinion."

"Look, I'm trying. I've made lists too. I spent most of my free hours in the hospital thinking of names. I'm just not...inspired."

"Why don't we take a walk?" Toshio suggested. "The outdoors always inspires me."

Ten minutes later, they were walking side by side through the fields. The noise of the cicadas rang in Taeko's ears, and she felt the oppressive humidity close around her like a bubble.

"It's days like this that I really wish I didn't live on an island," she panted, pushing a piece of hair off her sweaty forehead. She felt her daughter squirming in her arms, and she lifted the corners of the receiving blanket to expose the baby's skin to air. "See, even she's uncomfortable."

"I don't know. I kind of like humid weather," said Toshio.

"You're crazy!" Taeko laughed.

Suddenly, the mood turned serious. "My mom's right. It doesn't seem real to me that we've had this baby. Not without a name. I just don't know what we should call her. She'll be stuck with it for the rest of her life, so I want us to make a good choice. I feel like I've failed as a mother already!"

Toshio put a strong hand on Taeko's shoulder. Even in the sweltering July heat, his warm touch sent tingles down her spine. "Listen to me. You have _not_ failed as a mother. These things take time. Remember, you were your mother's third child, so she had gone through this naming business already. We're first-time parents. Besides, if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you find answers once you've had enough time. Remember when we met? You were being haunted by all those memories of your fifth-grade self. You were scared and insecure, but you got over it, and look at the great life we have now. You're a strong woman, Taeko. I know you will be a fantastic mother to this child. You already are."

"Thank you." Taeko's voice quivered, and she wiped a tear from her eye. "Sorry for getting so emotional."

"It's okay. I have to get used to it, now that there are two girls in the house," Toshio said with a grin.

They were coming up on a patch of safflowers. He had never had them on his farm, but shortly after they got engaged, Toshio surprised Taeko by planting some. She recalled that summer three years ago, when she had come to Yamagata to pick safflowers with her in-laws. At the train station, she had met Toshio, the future love of her life.

_How different I was back then_, Taeko thought. Conflicted, stuck in the past, and, as Toshio had said, insecure. She hadn't had the faintest idea where her life was going. She was scared to get married, scared to commit to anyone, scared to grow up. Taeko smiled to herself as she thought about how her life had changed. She was thirty years old now, with a wonderful husband and a little miracle of a child. She had found a better friend in her neighbor, Akemi, than she had ever had back in her old home. It was strange how she, a born-and-bred city girl, felt so much more like _herself_ in the country. She didn't miss Tokyo one bit.

She strolled among the rows of bright yellow flowers, marveling at the beauty around her. "Look, baby!" she cried, stroking her daughter's cap of fine, wispy black hair. "Aren't they pretty?" Taeko knelt down, showing her baby the flowers.

As the infant focused her eyes, a look of wonder passed over her tiny features. She was so mesmerized by the kaleidoscope of yellows and greens in front of her that Taeko laid a hand on the girl's chest to make sure she hadn't stopped breathing. "Eeeeeeh!" her daughter squealed, snapping out of her reverie and kicking her legs in excitement.

"Did you see that, Toshio?" Taeko asked her husband.

"I did," he answered. "If she thinks that's impressive, wait until this spring, when she sees cherry blossoms for the first time!"

Husband and wife stood together in the field, basking in the wonderment of a child's first discoveries of the world. Then, all of a sudden, the realization hit Taeko like a bolt of lightning. It was as if her entire pregnancy, all the hours poring over books, all the months racking her brain for good names, had led up to this one moment.

_"Hana," _she whispered so softly that she wasn't even sure if the wind could hear her.

"What was that?" said Toshio.

"Hana. That's her name."

Her husband raised one eyebrow. "Oh, it is, is it?"

"Toshio, I'm serious. You saw the way she looked at those flowers. And the whole reason we met is because I came here to pick flowers...please, you've got to trust me on this. I feel like it was meant to be." Taeko's voice was shaking again. "I've - I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life."

"Okay, okay, I trust you." Toshio thought for a moment. "Kimura Hana," he said, testing the name out. "You know, it's got a nice ring to it. I like it."

"Really?" Taeko exclaimed.

"Let's go over to the prefectural office tomorrow and get her name registered. I assume that we're using the kanji for 'flower,'" said Toshio.

"Of course!"

"Well then, looks like we're all set."

"So, this is it? We've finally decided on a name?" Taeko's smile stretched from ear to ear.

"We sure have." Toshio took the baby from his wife and kissed her plump cheek. "Welcome to the world, Hana."

**Author's Note: **It seems that they never mention Toshio's family name in _Only Yesterday_ (at least not in the subtitled version that I've seen), so I gave him one. I'm not too familiar with Japanese names, so I looked at a list of them online. I chose "Kimura" just because I thought it sounded good with "Hana." Also, in another Ghibli film, there is a minor character named Toshio Kimura...so I thought, why not work in a little nod to the studio? :) Anyway, enough of my babble. I hope you enjoyed the story!


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